By Foster Klug
Associated Press
Friday, January 18, 2008

A U.S. official, in a rare public departure from Bush administration policy, yesterday criticized the nuclear talks with North Korea, contending that Pyongyang is not serious about disarming.

Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush's envoy on North Korean human rights, said the North will likely "remain in its present nuclear status" when the next U.S. president takes over, despite four years of nuclear disarmament efforts.

"North Korea is not serious about disarming in a timely manner," Lefkowitz told an audience at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, referring to that country's recent missed deadlines and a surge in what he called "bellicose language."

"We should consider a new approach to North Korea," he said.

Lefkowitz suggested that negotiators link human rights and security concerns, something not achieved under the six-nation talks aimed at reaching an agreement under which North Korea dismantles its nuclear program. The North's treatment of its people, he said, is "inhumane and, therefore, deeply offensive to us."

"The key," Lefkowitz said of his proposal, "is to make the link between human rights and other issues explicit and non-severable, so that it cannot be discarded in any future rush to get to 'yes' in an agreement."

Lefkowitz's comments are at odds with recent statements by other Bush administration officials. But White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, when asked to comment, said the administration believes that six-party talks remain the best opportunity to reach the goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Early in the administration, U.S. officials took a hard line on North Korea. But recently they have been cautious not to criticize Pyongyang for fear of unraveling the delicate nuclear negotiations.

When the North missed an end-of-2007 deadline to declare all of its nuclear programs, the comments by the chief U.S. envoy to the nuclear talks were measured. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill pushed the North to quickly produce a "complete and correct" declaration. But he also indicated that the United States is prepared to wait.

Lefkowitz, when asked if he was speaking on behalf of the Bush administration, said U.S. policies "are under review right now."